12/11/2006

Childhood, the lost age of innocence

One of the boys is charged with rape, attempted rape and grievous bodily harm in a city park on Monday 4 December.

The other is charged with attempted rape, aiding and abetting rape, grievous bodily harm and making threats to kill.

Both accused, who cannot be identified, are charged with robbing their alleged victim of £40 with a kitchen knife. Belfast youth court was told on Monday that when charged with rape, the accused boy made no reply.

The boy charged with attempted rape said: "I didn't rape nobody."

What is running through the minds of two 13 year old boys when they decide to brutally rape a woman?

When I was 13 I was out playing with my friends, building huts in the fields, playing swords with sticks and riding on our bikes.